Arizona Cardinals defense not quite ready for the prime time

For the Arizona Cardinals, the Thursday Night Football game was a bit of a microcosm of their season.

The offense put up 25 points against one of the best defenses in the NFL.

They had 204 passing yards after sack yardage was taken out and 153 rushing yards.

The 49ers came into the game giving up only 11 points per game, only 128 passing yards per game and 95 rushing yards per game.

If you put up those types of numbers as an offense, you need only a defense to not completely crap the bed.

Well, the Cardinals were game for the 49ers potent running game.

The 49ers came into the game averaging 181 yards rushing per game and the Cardinals were able to hold them to 101 yards in a game and no rushing touchdowns. It was only the second game of the season the 49ers did not score a rushing touchdown.

Yet, Jimmy Garoppolo turned a three game turnover streak into only his second clean game if the season, throwing no interceptions.

To make matters worse, the Cardinals gave up Garoppolo’s third 300 yard passing game of his career, and let him set a career record for touchdown passes with four.

Not only that, but Garoppolo completed 75.7% of his passes, the second highest rate of his career, while letting him set a career high for passer rating.

I said let because it surely seemed like the Cardinals had little interest in stopping the 49ers passing attack.

While George Kittle is an All Pro type and Emmanuel Sanders is great, it’s not like the Cardinals were facing the best passing game in the NFL.

No, the defense showed it’s not quite ready for prime time lights.

But, the Cards offense was and I guess in year one of a rebuild focused on the offense, it is a start.